Lawmakers reach deal to limit card swipe fees

[babylonsister]

Lawmakers reach deal to limit card swipe fees

By Sonja Ryst
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 22, 2010


House leaders have reached an agreement with their Senate counterparts on an amendment to financial overhaul legislation that would limit the fees credit and debit card issuers can charge retailers, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Monday.

Durbin's "swipe fee" amendment was included in the Senate version of the bill but not in the House version. Under the compromise, government-issued prepaid cards and reloadable prepaid cards would be exempt from the law.

The agreement "preserves key protections for the grocers, retailers and country store owners most affected by out-of-control swipe fees, while addressing legitimate concerns of the industry," Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) wrote in an e-mail.

The Senate amendment, approved last month on a 64 to 33 vote, would have regulated the fees associated with debit or prepaid-card purchases. Retailers have said that the fees, which run about 1 or 2 percent, can erase their profit on small transactions.

However, state and local governments that use debit or prepaid cards to distribute unemployment and child support benefits have lobbied against the measure, saying that letting merchants avoid paying swipe fees could translate into higher costs for crucial social programs.

The compromise version of the amendment seeks to address those concerns by exempting federal, state and local government debit and prepaid cards from new swipe fee rules. Congressional aides said the changes could save the federal government $40 million a year.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/21/AR2010062104646.html

[Glassunion]

1. Bout damn time!!! Nt

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Watch consumer swipe fees go up now.

They'll squeeze it out of us. It's free money.

[Travis_0004]

3. I don't get it

Swipe fees are "out of control" according to the government, so we need to control them, yet the government needs them on their debit cards.


I would be fine leaving it how it is, or changing it for everybody, but I don't get the point of making the government exempt.